Browns claim Saints DT Josiah Bronson off of waivers

Well that may have backfired. The New Orleans Saints waived rookie defensive tackle Josiah Bronson from the 53-man roster earlier this week, likely intending to re-sign him to the practice squad (where he started the 2021 season before being promoted).

But the Cleveland Browns saw his name on the waiver wire and acted quickly to claim him, costing the Saints one of their high-priority undrafted free agent signings. Bronson played 156 snaps across five games with New Orleans after a long college career spanning stops at Temple and Washington.

So how big of a loss is this? Bronson was a backup in the interior line rotation behind David Onyemata and Shy Tuttle, getting in the mix alongside other reserves like Christian Ringo, Albert Huggins, and prior to his injury Malcolm Roach. So it’s not like he was an every-down playmaker. If Bronson had met expectations he would haven’t been waived to begin with.

Additionally, the Saints re-signed offensive lineman Will Clapp to their practice squad. He was replaced as the sixth man against the New York Jets by veteran pickup James Carpenter. Despite some positional versatility as a swing guard-center, the Saints must like other players better and want to keep Clapp in the fold, just a couple spots lower on the depth chart.

If it sounds like Clapp’s name has come up often this year, it’s because that’s true — he’s been signed, waived, re-signed, deactivated, and reactivated from various reserve lists a total of seven times since Jan. 2022, and 20 times since the Saints first picked him in the 2020 NFL draft out of LSU. Like practice squad reserves J.T. Barrett and Andy Tanner before him, Clapp has seen his name involved in a lot of transactions as New Orleans completes various roster moves. For now, the important thing is that he’s still wearing black and gold.

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